Format field guide
Format compatibility guide
Choose a container for the next device or editor, not because one extension sounds more professional than another.
Broad playback support when paired with widely supported H.264 video and AAC audio.
| Format | What it contains | Best fit | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| MP4 | Video, audio, captions | Phones, sharing, broad playback | Support depends on the codecs inside |
| WebM | Video and audio | Modern web delivery | Older editors and devices vary |
| MKV | Multiple video, audio, subtitle tracks | Flexible local storage | Not a universal sharing format |
| MP3 | Lossy audio | Portable audio and speech | Re-encoding cannot restore lost detail |
| WAV | Usually uncompressed PCM audio | Editing and interchange | Large files |
| FLAC | Losslessly compressed audio | Audio archive and masters | Less universal than MP3 |
A file extension does not identify the codec
MP4, WebM, and MKV are containers. They organize tracks and metadata, but the video and audio inside are encoded separately. An MP4 containing a widely supported combination can play almost everywhere; an MP4 containing a newer codec can still fail in an older editor.
Remuxing versus transcoding
Remuxing moves compatible encoded tracks into another container without recompressing them. It is fast and preserves the encoded quality. Transcoding decodes and encodes again, which can improve compatibility but costs time and can introduce generation loss.
Lossless does not recover a lossy source
Converting an MP3 or social-video audio track to WAV or FLAC prevents another lossy encode, but it does not recreate frequencies discarded earlier. Use lossless output for editing convenience or to avoid further loss, not as an enhancement button.